School safety bill: The Senate Rules Committee passes a $400 million school safety bill that would allow teachers to carry guns in schools, raise the legal age to purchase firearms to 21, require a three-day waiting period on gun purchases, bolster mental health treatment and increase the number of school resource officers. But the committee rejects an amendment that would ban all assault rifles. Sun-Sentinel. Miami Herald. Palm Beach Post. News Service of Florida. Politico Florida. GateHouse. The Broward County Commission wants to explore just how far it can go in regulating guns and ammunition at the county level. State law now says that local officials who try to impose stricter gun regulations than the state’s can be fined and removed from office. Miami Herald.
Funding school safety: Florida politicians are pointing to improved mental health treatment and more police officers in schools as ways to address school security. But the state has traditionally underfunded both. In 2016, there was just one school psychologist for every 1,983 students in the state, according to 2016 data from the Florida Association of School Psychologists. The recommended ratio is between 500 and 700 students per psychologist. And while there are about 4,000 schools in Florida, there are just 1,518 armed school resource officers. Tampa Bay Times.
House inquiry: The Florida House House Public Integrity & Ethics Committee will launch an investigation into the actions of the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, the Broward County School Board, Broward County government, the Coral Springs Police Department and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office before and during the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting Feb. 14. It will be separate from the query the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will conduct at the request of Gov. Rick Scott. News Service of Florida. Scott is resisting calls to immediately suspend Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, saying he will wait until the FDLE investigation is complete before making a decision. Fort Myers News-Press.
Deputy’s response: The deputy who waited outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School while a gunman killed 17 students and staff Feb. 14 believed the gunshots he heard were coming from outside the school, according to his attorney. Attorney Joseph DiRuzzo says Scot Peterson then followed the protocol for outdoor shootings, which is to seek cover, assess the situation and communicate to other officers. DiRuzzo called accounts by Broward Sheriff Scott Israel and President Donald Trump criticizing Peterson and calling him a coward are “patently untrue.” Sun-Sentinel. Miami Herald. Associated Press. President Trump says he would have rushed into the school to confront the shooter, even if he wasn’t armed. “You don’t know until you’re tested but I think, I really believe, I’d run in there even if I didn’t have a weapon, and I think most of the people in this room would have done that too,” Trump said at a meeting with governors. Associated Press. Talking Points Memo.
Arming teachers: Ivanka Trump says arming teachers is an idea that should be considered. Her father has supported arming select teachers and school officials. Politico Florida. Lake County School Board member Bill Mathias proposes the district arm teachers who volunteer. The teachers would be classified as “special deputies” and would have to receive training from the sheriff’s office. Many county residents and students say they oppose the idea. Orlando Sentinel. Teachers unions in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties say they oppose any move toward arming teachers in classrooms. Pensacola News Journal. Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey recommends arming “selective” public school employees. Florida Today.
Other developments: Nikolas Cruz refused mental health services once he turned 18, according to Broward County School Superintendent Robert Runcie. Sun-Sentinel. Two newspapers and a cable news network are suing Broward authorities for the release of security video footage from the exterior of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, the day of the shooting. The lawsuit, brought by the Sun-Sentinel, Miami Herald and CNN, cites the “extreme public interest” in knowing what law enforcement officers did as the shooting unfolded. Sun-Sentinel. Parents and neighborhood residents welcome Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School teachers back to school Monday with greetings and signs that expressed their support. Sun-Sentinel. The Marion, Orange and Lake County school districts are sending grief counselors to Stoneman Douglas High School to help when students return Wednesday. Orlando Sentinel. Ocala Star-Banner. First responders thought shooting victim Maddy Wilford, 17, was dead when they arrived at Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14. But three surgeries later, she’s recovered enough to praise the rescuers and doctors for saving her. Sun-Sentinel. Associated Press. Miami Herald.
School safety, threats: Districts around the state work on plans to boost security at schools. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Florida Today. Pensacola News Journal. TCPalm. Daytona Beach News-Journal. St. Augustine Record. Tampa Bay Times. Districts continue to deal with threats to schools. Here are some of them. Orlando Sentinel. Gradebook. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Alt paths to graduation: One education bill is sailing through the Legislature, earning unanimous approval in the House and up for a vote soon in the Senate. The bills, which are identical, would provide an alternative path to a high school diploma by allowing students to count credits from approved apprenticeships toward graduation. Gradebook.
Superintendent vs. board member: Palm Beach County School Superintendent Robert Avossa warns school board member Barbara McQuinn about making unspecified comments about him to members of the community, and says he will no longer meet with her without his attorney present. Avossa’s relationship with the board has been strained since he announced this month that he was resigning in June to take a job with a publishing company. Palm Beach Post.
Turnaround school: Lakeland’s Kathleen High School will receive $4.4 million from the state under the Schools of Hope program. The money will go for academic coaching, career counseling and a music therapy program. Kathleen has received D grades from the state for the past two years, and is in the first year of a turnaround program required by the state. Lakeland Ledger.
School rezoning plan: The Pasco County School District releases its latest proposal to rezone the west side of the county to ease overcrowding. The first attempt to redraw boundaries was thrown out after a judge determined the committee had done some planning in private meetings. About 900 students would be reassigned in the new plan. Gradebook.
District wants to fire coach: Seminole County school officials are recommending the school board fire former NBA player Anthony Bowie for allegedly exposing himself to a coworker at Goldsboro Elementary School in Sanford in November. Orlando Sentinel.
Employees accused: A Walton County teacher’s aide is accused of physical and mental abuse of special-needs students at Freeport High School by a teacher who was fired last week. Northwest Florida Daily News. A custodian at a Clay County elementary school is arrested and accused of molesting a 13-year-old girl in his home. Michael Anthony Scoble, a 27-year-old custodian at Wilkinson Elementary School, has been suspended, say school officials. Florida Times-Union.
Student arrested: A 16-year-old Eustis High School student is arrested and accused of threatening to kill another student over the theft of a vaping device. Orlando Sentinel.
School bus accident: Thirty Holmes County students are taken to a hospital for observation after their school bus ran off the road and overturned in Bonifay. Dothan Eagle.
Opinions on schools: This generation “will not be silent ever again.” Victoria Mejia, Sheryl “Oli” Acquaroli, Daniella Ellison, Logan Green and Ashley Hernandez, Sun-Sentinel. Schools and students will be safer if government and law enforcement learn from the missed signals and mistakes in this tragedy. But those failures should not divert attention away from the gun reforms Congress and the Florida Legislature should pursue. Tampa Bay Times. Finally, Florida’s politicians start acting to protect students in our schools. Florida Times-Union. Parents must demand answers from politicians and school officials on school safety. Raquel Regalado, Miami Herald. Arming teachers is a half-baked, nonstarter of an idea for schools. Frank Cerabino, Palm Beach Post. The idea that we can harden every venue young people frequent is ludicrous and impossible. So we have to address the guns. Jono Miller, Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Student enrichment: Penelopy Vega, a South Sumter Middle School student, wins the Sumter County spelling bee. She and runnerup Alynza McBride of Webster Elementary will represent the county in a regional spelling bee in Orlando next month. Daily Commercial.
